An EHR was implemented at the General Hospital one year ago, before you were hired. The implementation process did not go smoothly and now there are strong EHR advocates and strong EHR-dissenters on the team. The CEO wants to move forward with an implementation of the bar-coded medication administration feature of the EHR, but the director of nursing does not. You have been asked to manage the implementation and see that it is successful. You will first need to review the case history of the EHR implementation and the best practices documentation available from national HIT organizations.
The CEO made the EHR selection on his own and told employees when the EHR would be implemented. It is his belief that people “perform better” with clear direction and strong leadership. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) believed the EHR selection decision should have come from the staff following a vendor fair where they would be able to try out different systems representative committee of staff to work with the leadership to make the EHR selection. She believed a small representative committee of peers would work as a go-between with the staff and the leadership and would bring their knowledge of the day-to-day staff needs to the decision-making process.
Review all the resources that accompany this activity document under 1: Overview & Resources to answer the questions below.
Questions
Read the article An Analysis of Contemporary Leadership Approaches (found under 1: Overview & Resources along with this activity document) and answer the following questions.
How do you think the CEO’s leadership style may have impacted the outcome of the EHR implementation? The style may impacted different because nurses didn’t want a changes in their system.
Answer: Nursing leadership has been defined as influencing others to improve the quality of care along with the direct participation in clinical care. This involves an environment that has clear vision,and where staff members are motivated and empowered.
The five Nursing Leadership styles are:
Transformational Leadership style is a management style,in which that motivates employees to take ownership for their roles and perform beyond expectations.Instead of assigning tasks from the top, Transformational leadership teaches people how to think rather than just do what they are told.Sometimes called quiet leaders,they lead by example.This type of leadership style is ineffective in initial stages of initiatives or ad-hoc situations.
Democratic Leadership style welcomes and encourages input and communication from the team when making decisions.Relationships are highly valued by this type of leader,and it’s important to them that their team feels comfortable and willing to voice concerns,opinions,and ideas.A democratic leader also sees value in providing feedback to their team,truly viewing communication as a two-way street.This type of leadership is time consuming and not suitable where quick decisions to be made.
Laissez-Faire Leadership is most often seen in new or inexperienced leaders.Typically referred to as “hands-off” approach,in this the leaders rarely provide direction or feedback to their team,but rather allow the team to function as they prefer without strong supervision.
Autocratic Leadership is a stark contrast to the laissez-faire leadership style,autocratic leadership is extremely “hands on” and includes a great deal of decisions making.This style does not promote trust or communication amongst a team,but instead creates a culture whereby team members valuable insights and knowledge go untapped.
Servant Leadership with a recent growth in popularity,servant leadership refers to leaders who influence and motivate others by building relationships and developing the skills of individual team members.The term refers to leaders that are drawn to serve first,which aspires them to lead.Servent leadership implies that a leader naturally cares about ensuring each team member has the resources and tools they need to succeed.
The leadership style of CEO of the health care system demonstrated in the EHR selection process was Autocratic Leadership style in which he did the selection on his own and told the employees when the EHR would be implemented,with a belief that people perform better with clear directions and strong leadership.This resulted in the implementation process did not go smoothly and the conflict among the staffs,some are agreeing and some are disagreeing with the EHR system.
The CMO of the health care system advocates for a Servent Leadership style in which the leaders who influence and motivate others by building relationships and developing the skills of individuals team members.She believe selection decision should have come from the staff following a vendor fair where they would be able to try out different systems representative committee of the staff to work with the leadership to make EHR selection.The small representative committee of peers would work as a go-between with the staff and the leadership and would bring their knowledge of the day to day staff needs to the decision making process.
The leadership style I believe would be best for the EHR selection and implementation would be Servent Style leadership which allows the staff to select more user friendly system,and will take initiative for a smooth implementation process by developing a new skills to the peers.
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